NEW DELHI: In the euphoria that followed the announcement about a new dialogue process between India and Pakistan, many would have missed out on a key development – a place at the negotiating table for the Pakistani military.

The joint statement issued in Islamabad on Wednesday said the two national security advisers will address all issues connected to terrorism. Since October 22, retired general Nasser Khan Janjua has been Pakistan’s NSA. His predecessor, Sartaj Aziz, was quietly divested of the post as the military strengthened its already firm grip on foreign policy.

The reason trotted out by sources quoted in Pakistani media reports was that the powers that be believed Aziz was unable to fully attend to the posts of NSA and foreign affairs adviser.

The reality is that the mildmannered Aziz has had little say on national security and his removal was a sign of the “shrinking control of the civilian administration over national security”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Janjua is clearly the choice of the generals in Rawalpindi. For some in India who have pushed for greater engagement with the Pakistani military, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Our best dealings with Pakistan were during the time of (former military ruler Pervez) Musharraf. The question really is of engagement. When we engage, things move,” AS Dulat, a former head of the Research and Analysis Wing, told HT. Since the composite dialogue process began in 1998, Pakistan’s military has had a role in the talks but uniformed officials were only part of delegations led largely by civilian bureaucrats. For a long time, the Pakistan Army pushed for a more direct role in the talks. In July 2009, then Inter-Services Intelligence chief Shuja Pasha, during a rare meeting with Indian military attaches, suggested India should deal directly with Pakistan’s army and intelligence set-up.

Now, Janjua will help the Pakistani military establishment achieve its objective of having a direct say in talks with India. The Pakistani military establishment’s decision to make Janjua the NSA was apparently based on the discomfiture at dealing with Indian NSA Ajit Doval, a spymaster with a long stint in Pakistan.